Inside a BOOK auction
Planet Money
NPR
4.6 • 30.5K Ratings
🗓️ 21 March 2026
⏱️ 43 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
So when Planet Money was approached to make its own book, not only did it present an opportunity to spread the gospel of whimsical economic infotainment to new audiences everywhere, but it also presented an opportunity to get a rare peek behind the curtain of the notoriously opaque world of publishing.
On today’s episode, the first chapter in our series on the making of a book: Planet Money sets out to land a book deal. We enter the high stakes, high school drama of the publishing industry, where literary agents try to woo powerful book editors. And we learn what happens when lofty artistic ideals meet the cold logic of the market. It’s a courtship dance with millions of dollars potentially on the line. There will be whale fights, corporate speed dating, and a literary shotgun wedding.
Related:
- Episode 2: Our BOOK vs. the global supply chain
- Episode 3: BOOKstore Economics
- Episode 4: How to make a BOOK into a bestseller
- Series: Planet Money makes a book
Live event info and tickets here.
Pre-order the Planet Money book and get a free gift. / Subscribe to Planet Money+
Listen free: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, the NPR app or anywhere you get podcasts.
Facebook / Instagram / TikTok / Our weekly Newsletter.
This episode was produced by Willa Rubin with production help from Sam Yellowhorse Kesler. It was edited by Jess Jiang, fact-checked by Sierra Juarez, and engineered by Robert Rodriguez. Alex Goldmark is Planet Money's executive producer.
See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.
NPR Privacy Policy
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | This is Planet Money from NPR. |
| 0:05.8 | For a long time, whenever I entered the cozy refuge of an independent bookstore, |
| 0:10.6 | I couldn't help but suspect that there was this whole hidden world, |
| 0:14.2 | this whole economy lurking behind the bookshelves. |
| 0:17.6 | And I know in the era of TikTok and polymarket and video podcasting, it can be easy to |
| 0:23.4 | overlook the humble book. But it is undeniable. Books are one of the most influential technologies |
| 0:29.6 | ever. From the wealth of nations and Das Kapital to the Art of the Deal or Dreams for My Father, |
| 0:36.3 | books can make us all lean in one day, or suddenly |
| 0:39.5 | everyone you know is finding life-changing magic and tidying up? Even if you haven't picked up a book |
| 0:46.4 | in years, the forces that shape the marketplace for books have the power to shape everything |
| 0:52.4 | else in your life. They shape the ideas that make it to the masses. |
| 0:57.8 | So last year, when my boss informed the team in an editorial meeting that the Planet Money book, |
| 1:03.0 | which had been in the works for a while, was now hurtling toward publication, I found myself |
| 1:08.5 | leaning in. The question on my boss's mind was this. |
| 1:12.6 | Would anyone on the team like to report out how the book got made, |
| 1:16.2 | to see what it might tell us about the business of books? |
| 1:19.7 | Would anyone raise their hand? |
| 1:22.2 | And when I heard the call to tell the tale of the Planet Money book, |
| 1:26.0 | what do you think I did? |
| 1:30.3 | Reader? I raised it. Hello and welcome to Planet Money. I'm Alexey Horowitz-Gazi. We live in a world built by books. |
| 1:38.3 | And yet, the economic machine that produces them is shrouded in mystery, the ways in which the invisible hand |
| 1:45.4 | determines what books actually get made. Today on the show, the first episode in our series. |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from NPR, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of NPR and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.